The NCIS Twitter Story
by Lizabeth S. Tucker
Summary: One fan's look back at the last ten years of NCIS through a series of tweets. This story was posted on Twitter over the last two nights. It is not Ziva friendly


**The NCIS Twitter Story**

_140 Characters or Less at a Time_

In the beginning were Gibbs & DiNozzo. Now, Gibbs had worked with others before DiNozzo, but few thrived under the man's demanding ways.

The Director wanted more than just a two man team, so he assigned Blackadder to this perfect pairing. A woman on a mission of revenge.

Despite the best efforts of DiNozzo, Blackadder wasn't a good fit and soon almost got the men killed. With little regret, she was gone.

Sciuto and Mallard noted the wonderful pairing of Gibbs and DiNozzo and were pleased. They recognized the strengths these two brought to it.

But soon it was obvious the two couldn't continue as before. A chance meeting with a strong-willed woman during a case brought them Kate.

There was a satisfied nod from the Director, while Tony began to train their new team member about crime scenes and privacy rules.

It took Kate some time to learn where her loyalties should be, but she soon hit her stride. Their only weakness was in tech, so a new search

Tony found the perfect fit in a shy, slightly nerdy young man in Norfolk, bringing him to Gibbs' attention. Some temporary assignments.

Soon McGee belonged to Gibbs. That meant training, not only in how to be a Special Agent, but how to survive typical law enforcement hazing.

DiNozzo took the young man in hand, slowly teaching him all he needs to know, including not being terrified of Gibbs. Or even of Kate.

The team had become a family. There was no one else needed to find and catch the miscreants committing crimes in their military world.

But this was no fairy tale, there would be no happily ever after ending. Kate's teasing became biting. Gibbs became fixated on one bad man.

DiNozzo struggled to keep everyone happy and safe, not willing to give up on the family he had finally found. Close calls with death came.

And then it happened. The bad man Gibbs had hunted took out his anger and revenge on Kate. And the family was ripped to pieces.

The Director moved on and a new Director appeared. This one had her own agendas, many personal. She lusted for Gibbs, she missed field work.

She took a more active role in the cases investigated by Gibbs and his grieving team. And she brought in an outsider with her own secrets.

Ziva weaseled her way into the team, beginning the division from the first, subtly dividing the men. First there was McGee, young still.

He was easily awed by the mysterious woman who treated him so kindly, who appealed to his gallantry. He admired her ease with violence.

Ziva was astute enough to avoid both the Doctor and the Scientist. He was too smart to fall into line quickly. She was still mourning.

The attacks were subtle. An insult here, an argument there. Slowly, slowly, she began to undermine all that came before. Doubts arose.

Whispers in the ears of the smitten Director, casual comments to the youngest member of the once solid team. How could *he* be 2iC? Why him?

Then the attempt to seduce DiNozzo. He was willing to play, but only to a certain point. His loyalty remained with Gibbs as always. Failure.

There was one more way. A sacrifice. Gibbs understood sacrifice. He would fall into her web immediately with the sacrifice of her brother.

One shot. Some tears. And soon she was in place. Gibbs trusted her. She was now in position to spread her venom, aided by the Director.

Years passed. More digs to undermine DiNozzo. Demeaning him in front of others. Refusing to take his orders seriously. A toxic worm inside.

Alienating him, pushing him to the side, diminishing him at every opportunity. But always with care. Never going too far. Soon all believed.

But there was still a chance. There was still that connection between Gibbs and DiNozzo. Until the bomb that swept everything away. No more.

The Director, while not a party to Ziva's devious plans, became focused on the man she blamed for her father's long ago suicide.

She used DiNozzo's grief and loneliness, his isolation, and dangled a chance to shine again. His life was tangled into one big mess.

By day he was the beleaguered team leader, trying to deal with Sciuto's grief and Mallard's anger over a friend's betrayal.

He struggled to keep the team together, to ignore the missing one. He kept his desk, not willing to move to that of Gibbs, of team leader.

Aware that he was judged by Ziva and McGee and found wanting, DiNozzo channeled his boss. Casual wear was gone, his suits now his armor.

At night as well as random daytime moments, he romanced the innocent daughter of the Director's target. He tried not to step over the line.

But this innocent was too needy, too demanding. She wanted all his attention, wanted him to come on command. She wanted all of him.

Exhausted beyond measure, under too long, DiNozzo lost himself in the man he was pretending to be and fell headlong over that sexual line.

Then something happened that even Ziva hadn't foreseen. Or so we are led to believe. She is on the run from both her own people and the FBI.

She shuns contacting her immediate superior, not realizing how far he would go to protect a teammate, a partner. Instead she calls Gibbs.

Like a well-trained dog, Gibbs comes at her call. The efforts to restore Ziva to the team reveal many truths, some painful, some ignored.

Gibbs leaves again, with no word to the man he once could've called friend. Ziva continues her efforts to undermine Tony, but to whom?

Gibbs returns again at the behest of another friend in trouble, again without a word to anyone. DiNozzo continues working undercover.

DiNozzo, now having accepted his job and his place as the team leader, was now in the desk of many monitors. He was more comfortable there.

But it was all for naught. Without a private word of warning or the courtesy of a call, Gibbs evicts DiNozzo from his desk and his job.

It was an arrow to the heart, but DiNozzo was man enough to swallow any resentment, pretending that everything was normal to his teammates.

Ziva and McGee were not so subtle, their joy another slap in DiNozzo's face. Gritting his teeth, he continued his undercover assignments.

His absences accepted by Gibbs, ignored and, later, abetted. Did he suspect or just not care? DiNozzo had to wonder, but never said.

Ziva, persona-non-grata to Mossad due to her recent actions, didn't know what was going on. It angered her. She began to dig for the truth.

The Director agreed to keep quiet, but seemed to understand he was near the breaking point. She offered him another post, a way out. No.

They struggled on, the team that had once been so close before the death of Kate and the addition of Ziva. Case after case, still solved.

But at what cost. Another night pretending to be someone he would never have a chance to be. This time an attack and a betrayal revealed.

Despite being thought dead, great grief felt by many, once DiNozzo returned, everything returned to what was their normal.

Yet there was a crack in Gibbs' carefully constructed shell. Slowly, slowly the two men began to move back towards their former friendship.

Unfortunately the same could not be said of the former relationship between DiNozzo and McGee. Ziva's poison continued to spread throughout.

Their actions went from rude to outright dangerous. Gibbs never intervened. DiNozzo, expecting little better, kept silent. And it continued.

Although there were moments of support and friendship by Gibbs, it seemed to make no difference in how DiNozzo was treated by the others.

Things began to come to a head. The Director's obsession was declared off limits, she became more and more erratic, the fan found poop.

Investigations into dubious, even illegal activities by the Director were conveniently consumed in the flames of her mansion. Cover-ups.

Still another Director, one with little respect or liking for DiNozzo. The team is split up, Gibbs left with new people. Ziva going home.

Agent Afloat, a man who needed others he could trust around him, people he could confide in was now on his own. Lonely and guilt-ridden.

Liquor. Sex. Wishes and more. Promised by Gibbs that he would get him home. But time passed without success. Meanwhile Gibbs is in a mess.

The newest Director was working his own agenda, putting Gibbs' gut to the test without telling him what he wanted. He's also using McGee.

Ziva is back in Israel, involved with her own problems working with her father again. Times have changed, she has changed. Explosions.

Gibbs demands his team back. The Director partly agrees. McGee and Ziva return. Not DiNozzo. A spy is suspected, not found. Time passes.

A suicide on DiNozzo's ship reveals a mainland connection. Bittersweet conversation between Gibbs and DiNozzo. Demands of the Director.

The old DiNozzo is seen in his end of the investigation. A trip to shore reluctantly authorized, a suspected thief captured, a body found.

The investigation widens from a simple murder-suicide to a possible spy situation. It also brings Gibbs and Ziva to DiNozzo's ship.

Homesickness grows ever larger in DiNozzo's heart. He cannot take his eyes off of Gibbs despite speaking with Ziva. He needs to go home.

The killer is found, DiNozzo backs Gibbs as he has always done. Without the Director's permission, Gibbs brings DiNozzo home. But how long?

The Director was reluctant to accept DiNozzo back. Special Agents such as DiNozzo and Gibbs were not where he wanted NCIS to grow. Clueless.

But he also knew that Gibbs would not be satisfied with anyone but DiNozzo so he accepted the man's return to the fold. Reluctantly.

What appeared to be a return to normal, or as normal as it gets, also involved a search for a spy. But sometimes what you see isn't correct.

Poor spy. She was trapped. And Gibbs was given her permission to shoot. Case after case began piling on, but they were strange, skewed.

Things are still tough. DiNozzo still isn't respected. An old case returns to screw another bit of guilt into his conscience. Not his fault.

As Team Leader at the time, DiNozzo takes the hit. McGee never says a word. Gibbs turns over the case and control of the team to DiNozzo.

Perhaps this was an example of Gibbs' trust rather than just one of his rules, but it makes no impact on Ziva and McGee unfortunately.

However, it begins to repair most of the remaining cracks in the formerly tight relationship between Gibbs and DiNozzo. Respect is given.

The case is solved, but for the first time DiNozzo bends the law. He allows a wronged man a new chance at life. And understands Gibbs better

Spies and lies. Secrets from one who is supposed to be a member of the team. DiNozzo worries, snoops, translates. More blatant insults.

No help from McGee, in thrall to Ziva. Gibbs distracted, the closeness slipping away too soon. Murders on American soil by a foreigner.

DiNozzo, still loyal to his own detriment, tries to help, tries to warn of the consequences that should be at hand if Ziva caught lying.

One last chance given to someone who didn't deserve it. DiNozzo finds danger and betrayal at Ziva's apartment. Must fight for his life.

A lover dead, all because of the lies told. A partner badly injured, all because of the lies told. Judged guilty by the one most guilty.

Anger, demands for revenge disguised as justice by both Ziva and her Mossad father. DiNozzo offered as NCIS' sacrificial lamb by Director.

Not a word of support by those once thought of as friends. The Director's animosity comes to the forefront once again. No respect from any.

DiNozzo is ordered to travel to Israel, accompanied by the Director. Gibbs and Ziva also accompany the pair. Travel is tough on the injury.

DiNozzo is no fool. The Director would give him to Mossad custody without a moment's hesitation if it save NCIS time and trouble. His life.

Gibbs is angry, not willing to let DiNozzo take the fall. He trusts in his 2iC, even if that trust wasn't always obvious to those concerned.

That trust is repaid when DiNozzo causes the master manipulator, director of Mossad, Ziva's father, to admit something not even Ziva knew.

Gibbs is proud, but not surprised. The Director, for the first time, begins to understand why DiNozzo was chosen by Gibbs as his 2iC.

Ziva not only doesn't blame the real people responsible for the death of her lover, her father, her lover, herself, she goes after DiNozzo.

She is out of control, assaulting DiNozzo with a weapon that, while not fired, is jammed into the injury to cause more damage and pain.

With reluctance, Mossad must allow DiNozzo to leave or find their own lies and manipulations come out. At the airport, a strategic mistake.

Certain that Gibbs is under her spell, Ziva issues an ultimatum. To get her back, DiNozzo must be booted off the team. Unexpected answer.

Quiet, taking the blame, DiNozzo stares out the window on the rough flight home. Ziva has been left behind. Who else will blame him?

Freed from the spell of their toxic team member, McGee grows closer to DiNozzo. They become friends again. Dinners, talking, family.

It should've been better. But a lifetime of expecting to be the focus of anger, of low expectations, of being the guilty party tells.

Koala on a sub. Interviewing possible replacement candidates. Discovering a teammate believed to be dead. Wanting closure/revenge/justice.

A nod and a wink, a friend and partner volunteered, a trip deep into a dangerous country. Captured. DiNozzo once again puts himself forward.

Beatings. Drugs. A story of family. The heart. The brains. Functional mute. The wild card. A plan meant to end a tragic story turns sideways

Ziva is alive. She is rescued and returns to the team. Perhaps not all are happy at the outcome. DiNozzo shuns the applause. A bad change.

There follows a season of pain, of changes, of quiet, of loss, of the return of snarky comments and closely held secrets. History rewritten.

Once again DiNozzo is almost the outsider. But this time there are quiet moments of support, of cowboy steak eaten from a couch.

A father returns, charming all but Gibbs who trusts DiNozzo to deal with him. Sciuto and DiNozzo no longer are close as before. Con artist.

To the dismay of all who watch, an old crime returns again and again. This time evidence is found, but how? Malice in Wonderland. Mr. Gibbs.

Murderous mother-in-laws, Directors with dubious identities. A boss from another time dies, but still appears. Death and lies, new history.

A mysterious killer who wasn't quite so mysterious. An enemy who was perhaps a hero. DiNozzo begins to calm, looks for a possible future.

Rule Twelve. Rule Fifty-One. Rules, lies and more rules. Broken, covered up, But there is good amongst the bad. Remembering how they met.

A grandmother met. A brother never known. A history rewritten, bully to victim. A struggle to continue. A heroic beginning. Moments only.

Another year begun, one with promise. Team and family, a calm facade. But DiNozzo and Gibbs know that happiness isn't ever after.

Once again Ziva has secrets, secrets and lies that this time see the death of two, father and wife. Yet once again there is no consequence.

After coming so close to calm and the team dynamic of the past, Ziva is out for revenge, refusing to see, much less address her own faults.

Another personal mission, another instance of DiNozzo being the only one in the dark. How many more times can this happen without tragedy?

Love is seen where there is none. There can be no love where there isn't trust, respect, honor. And so we watch and wait and hope. The End?


End file.
